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Key Points

Theory in detail

The Greatest Happiness Principle

the greatest happiness for the greatest number

The Greatest Happiness Principle, stated above,
is at the heart of a number of ethical theories that fall under the umbrella of
‘Utilitarianism’.Utilitarianism
is an incredibly useful, and increasingly popular, ethical position. Its
many benefits are matched with some serious flaws.However, modern Utilitarianists have repeatedly adapted the theory rather
than discard it.Peter Singer is
one example of a Utilitarian whose ideas have gained great popularity in recent
years.

Bentham

Bentham equated happiness with pleasure
and the absence of pain.This was an empirical observation - people desire pleasure and seek to avoid pain. His
scientific mind led him to believe that the study of ethics could be undertaken
in a practical way, carefully measuring the possible consequences or outcomes of
an action before deciding which choice to take.

Bentham’s theories
led to extensive social reform affecting Parliament, criminal law, the jury
system, prisons, savings banks, cheap postage etc, etc.What was revolutionary about Bentham’s theory was that it
resulted in all people being considered when making laws.His felicific calculus (also called the ‘hedonic’ or ‘utility’
calculus) was helpful in determining how to measure different amounts of
pleasure:

The Hedonic Calculus

Remoteness – how near it
is

Purity – how free from pain it is

Richness – to what
extent it will lead to other pleasures

Intensity – how
powerful it is

Certainty – how likely
it is to result

Extent – how many people it affects

Duration – how long it
lasts

John Stuart Mill

Mill believed that quality was more important than
quantity when it came to pleasure.For
example, the pleasures of the mind are far superior to the gratification of the
body’s desires.This deals with
the problem of sadistic torturers, as their pleasure is of a significantly lower
kind.

‘It
is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be
Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.’

Act Utilitarianism

You
look at an action to determine what is moral, and from this general rules
can be derived.E.g. when faced
with a road traffic accident (rta) a paramedic will treat a pregnant woman
first.This is because in any given situation, the pregnant woman and her
unborn child have a greater potential for future happiness than any individual
involved
in the crash. By deciding
how to act in a specific case, the general rule ‘Always treat a pregnant
woman
first’ can be derived. This
rule is only a guideline, and should be discarded if doing so will bring
about more
happiness (e.g. if a brain surgeon is in need of treatment).

A big criticism of Act Utilitarianism is that it is impossible to make the
sorts of calculations it requires, although Bentham talked of a 'rule of thumb' which meant that you could repeat a previous decision under similar circumstances. Another is that people need rules - if you allow people to lie, steal etc. this could become too great a temptation e.g. to lie to avoid looking bad rather than because it genuinely brought better consequences.

On
the plus side, it has most integrity, as it allows you to stick with the
greatest happiness principle unswervingly – simply do whatever brings the most
happiness in any given situation.

Rule Utilitarianism

Some
general principles are formulated.From
these, certain actions will be ruled out as unacceptable.The principle of utility is therefore applied to a rule, so the rule will
hold if in general following it leads to greater happiness.This means that in an individual case, even though an injustice might
bring about greater happiness, if it goes against the general principle that
injustice tends to lead to misery and a reduction in happiness, it is deemed
wrong.

Bentham is generally seen as an Act Utilitarian, as the Greatest Happiness
Principle seems to demand. As we
saw, he is open to the criticism that Utilitarianism goes against justice and
human rights, as it allows abuses of rights if they bring enough happiness. Mill may be seen as a Rule Utilitarian, as he clearly thinks certain rules have a Utilitarian justification. In his book 'Utilitarianism', Mill defends the idea of rights:

"To have a right, then, is, I conceive, to have something which society ought to defend me in the possession of. If the objector goes on to ask, why it ought? I can give him no other reason than general utility."

Ultimately, Mill would break a rule if breaking it lead to the greatest happiness. Elsewhere in the book, Mill says:

"...to save a life, it may not only be allowable, but a duty, to steal, or take by force, the necessary food or medicine, or to kidnap, and compel to officiate, the only qualified medical practitioner."

Does this make him an Act Utilitarian? Peter Vardy says this is how most people view Mill. Others describe him as a 'soft' Rule Utilitarian, 'Hard' Rule Utilitarians would disagree with breaking a rule even if doing so led to the greater good. Many criticise 'soft' Rule Utilitarians, saying that this is effectively the same as Act Utilitarianism.

Mill strongly believed that the individual is sovereign over himself, which is an unusual principle for a Utilitarian! This means that, for example, we should allow people to smoke in private (banning smoking is an attack on the individual's sovereignty) even though smoking leads to terrible illness etc. Mill's belief in individual sovereignty could be justified by a Rule Utilitarian (can you explain how?)

Other forms of Utilitarianism

Utilitarianism
started out from the basic assumption by Bentham that man desires pleasure
and seeks to avoid pain.This basic
assumption can be challenged, as it seems to be wrong in at least some cases.
People who wallow in self-pity seem to want to be in pain, and many
people who have sinned or broken the law feel the need to be punished – they
need to suffer in some way to put right what was wrong. Although it
is possible to argue that in some long and complicated way the desire for
punishment brings pleasure, it is easier and more satisfying to
refine the Utilitarian theory further.Rather
than talk about pleasure and pain or happiness, some modern Utilitarians look at the degree to which an action fulfils the preferences of others.This avoids making any judgement about the suitability of the desires
of others or the ‘level’ of their happiness.It doesn’t avoid the problem of being incredibly difficult to
calculate, though.

In summary, people have adapted Utilitarianism in the following ways:

Hare – preferences: the morally right action is the one that maximizes that satisfaction of the preferences of all those involved.

Sidgwick – motives: it is the motive (intending to bring about the greatest good) rather than the outcome that is good

Singer – interests: you need to look at what is in the best interests of those affected (some people call Singer a 'welfare Utilitarian')